Georgia Ice

Since we first came to Georgia, all the friendly locals have been talking about Georgian winters. In particular they like to warn us of the ice storms and the terrible drivers who terrorize the roadways. “Just stay home.” They say, “You may think that you can drive in the icy conditions, with your Wisconsin know-how, but the other drivers can’t.”

This week there has been much discussion and worry over the impending ice. Hotel rooms were reserved at work and plans were made to stay home. The ice came on Wednesday night.

Jumping into my car at 10:30pm on Wednesday night, in pouring rain, I noticed a little ice had formed on my windshield. It was gone with one swipe of the wipers. I took it easy on the roads, but they were not slippery. Thursday morning, as my shift ended, co-workers began calling in. “The roads are too icy, I can’t make it in.”

I admit, after all the warnings I’d heard, I was a bit concerned. But I headed out anyway. In the 7am morning, light, the trees were carefully covered in ice, every branch was glistening, coated, and little icicles hung down. It really was a beautiful scene and once again I wished for my camera.

I’d barely left the building, when a fellow pedestrian yelled out precautions about slippery sidewalk grates. The ground didn’t seem slippery at all. It was still raining hard, and puddles were everywhere, but the ice was only in the trees.

I drove home, without incidence, yet the morning news was all about terrible driving conditions. These people, obviously, did not learn to drive in February in Wisconsin and had not grown-up walking on ice.

As SB said later on Thursday,”there’s an art to walking on ice. I have normal, Wisconsin, ice walking skills, which down here translate into super-human abilities.”

3 Comments

funny, huh? i get this in southern illinois as well, a good 400 miles north of you (would you guess 400? I don’t know).

However, I do want to warn that the ice storms can actually be bad, even for a fellow Wisconsonite. 2 winters ago there was an ice storm that covered everything with an inch of ice. it was impossible to open the doors of my car. it was impossible to walk. i know it got pretty far south that one time. it might not have required snow removal, but it much worse than plenty of the snowstorms i’ve encountered up in WI.

I agree – REAL ice storms can be pretty nasty. They had one down in the shenandoah valley right before christmas a few years back and it destroyed half the trees on my girlfriend’s grandparents’ driveway.

I remember one year back when I was in high school we needed to move my dad’s Jetta over to the garage so he could hook it up to the battery charger. There was probably a half-inch of ice covering everything. We tried pushing the car but we forgot to check the parking break and it didn’t work. So my dad got into my old station wagon and he pushed the Jetta with the other car while I steered the Jetta where it needed to go. Fun time!

My dad works in a grocery store so you see the same panic back in VA that you see in Atlanta. If there’s a hint of snow in the forecast, their supplies of bread, milk, and toilet paper always get cleaned out. Snow days used to drive him crazy when he worked at the leesburg store, because he would drive half and hour to work and the people in town would call in saying they couldn’t make it because of the snow.

I read your blog outloud to Matt and he had a good chuckle. But I do believe we’re a little snotty up here north that we can conquer anything. But after walking home from the train in a foot of snow, climbing over the mounds the snowplows pushed onto our sidewalks, I did feel pretty super-human.